Even stretch elastic stitcher



Aug. 30, 1960 L. R. BLACKMON EI'AL EVEN STRETCH ELASTIC STITCHER Filed Sept. 18, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l Qdl llIIlIIllIfIF'IlIIII'IIII 26 l 2() l6 l/Illlllllll|(lllIIIIIIIIL/ I -IS 2s 32 I I 3 22 ,x E E. 1 k 3 I ,/26 lz l4 I I I2 l I 38 54 bllll /llllil llllllllll 5 38 44\ Illll llllllQlillLlJlllIll 42 34 /34 5s 42 52 4s 36 L F/g. Z

INVENTORS LOUISE R. BLAOKMON 8 LELAND E. BLAOKMON Aug. 30, 1960 Filed Sept. 18, 1958 L. R. BLACKMON El AL EVEN STRETCH ELASTIC STITCHER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [UEIEIEIEIUU IlllllllllllllllIIIIII II EIEI llllllllllllllllllllllllll United EVEN STRETCH ELASTIC STITCHER Louise R. Blaclnnon and Leland E. Blaclnmon, both of 1R0. Box 811, Hartsville, SE.

Filed Sept. 18, 1958, Ser. No. 761,715 2 Claims. (Cl. 269-189) This invention relates to sewing apparatus and more particularly to an accessory for sewing machines.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for stitching an elastic strip to an elastic fabric that may be conveniently used during the sewing of such material upon an automatic sewing machine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an elastic stitcher accessory which will prestretch the elastic during the sewing thereof to an inelastic fabric so as to provide a composite article particularly suited for bands, garments, and the like.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an elastic stitcher accessory for sewing machines of the above type that may be selectively adjusted to prestretch the elastic material in any desired degree with respect to the inelastic fabric and which is extremely simple to use.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an elastic stitcher accessory bearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, has a minimum number of parts, is inexpensive to manufacture and efiicient in operation.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accorn panying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an elastic stitcher accessory made in accordance with one form of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse cross sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a spring clip forming a part of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1, on reduced scale, illustrating the operation of the device;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of construction;

Figure 6 is a front in Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of certain parts of the device shown in Figure 6, in operative use.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, and more particularly to Figures 1 to 4 thereof, an elastic stitcher accessory 10 made in accordance with one form of the present invention is shown to include a main body member 12 having a fixed mounting at one end for securing one end of elastic and inelastic strips of fabric in fiat coextensive relationship. This fixed mounting includes a pair of clamping members comprising a first bar 14 secured to and projecting at right angles to the one end of the main body member 12 by means of rivets 16, and a second bar 18 with a semi-circular shaped end portion pivotally supported upon the main body member 12, by means of a pivot pin 29, and its free end normally projecting at right angles to said body member 12, for selective movement between a normally closed position plan view of the accessory shown Q Qfi Patented Aug; 30,1

relative to the fixed bar 14 and an open position. Each of the first and second bars 14, 18 are provided with outwardly extending tabs 22, 24, respectively, that are selectively received within transversely arranged apertures at opposite ends of an arcuate leaf spring clip 26 which yieldably secures the second bar 18 in the aforementioned closed position with the first bar 14 when assembled with said tabs so as to resiliently clamp the fabric placed therebetween.

An adjustable mounting including a slide 34 slidably supported upon the main body member 12 and selectively fixed in any desired position along the length thereof by means of a thumb screw 36, includes a pair of clamping members. Said clamping members embodyinga third bar 38 secured to and projecting at right angles with the slide 34 by means of rivets 40 and a fourth bar 42 which is pivotally mounted upon the slide 34 by a pivot pin 44 for selective rotational movement relative to the third bar 38 with its free end normally projecting at right angles to said slide 34 for clamping the opposite end of the fabric therebetween. Tabs 46, 48 extending outwardly from each of the third and fourth bars are received within transversely arranged apertures at the opposite ends of another arcuate leaf spring clip 50 for resiliently securing the parts in substantially closed position and for clamping the opposite end of the fabric therebetween.

In the actual use of this device, one end of elastic and inelastic strips are clamped between the fixed mount ing, while the adjustable mounting is clamped to a portion of the fabric strips and adjusted so as to prestretch the elastic strip and tension the inelastic strip, the thumb screw 36 being tightened to secure these strips in this relationship. It will thus be recognized that these tWo strips may then be readily sewed together, following which the elastic will pucker the inelastic portion so as to allow for a stretching action therebetween in a well known manner. If desired, the scale markings 30, 32 of the bars of the fixed mounting, the markings 54, 56 of the bars of the adjustable mounting, and the markings 58 along the length of the main body member 12 may be used as a gage for properly positioning the fabric and uniformally prestretching the elastic.

With reference now to Figures 5 to 7 of the drawing, a slightly modified form of construction 60 is shown wherein the main body member 62 has a laterally fixed mounting member 64 at one end projecting at right angles thereto and provided with spaced apart arcuate members 66 which define aligned arcuate openings 68 therewithin, for purposes hereinafter described. An adjustable mounting in the form of a slide 70 is also provided with an extending bar 72 projecting at right angles thereto having a plurality of arcuate members 74 defining aligned longitudinal arcuate openings 76. This adjustable mounting may be secured in any desired position along the length of the main body member 62, as may be indicated by the indicia 78, by means of an adjustable thumb screw 80. In the actual use of this device, the elastic and inelastic strips of fabric 82 are secured to each of the laterally outwardly extending bars 64, 72 by means of pins 84 that extend through the fabric and through the arcuate openings 68, 76 defined by the arcuate portions 66, 74, respectively. The thumb screw 80 may then be used to prestretch the elastic fabric and tension the inelastic fabric so that this portion may be sewed in a manner hereinbefore described.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An elastic stitcher accessory for sewing machines comprising, in combination, a main body member having a top end and a bottom end, a no-n-slidable mounting means secured at the top end of said main body member for gripping one pair of ends of a pair of elastic and inelastic strips in flat coextensive relationship, an adjustable mounting means slidably supported upon said main body member intermediate its top and bottom ends and in a common plane with said non-slidable mounting means for gripping the opposite pair of ends of said pair of elastic and inelastic strips in flat coextensive relationship, a releasable screw type clamping means for clamping said adjustable mounting means in longitudinally spaced apart relationship with said non-slidable mounting means, said non-slidable mounting means com prising a pair of clamping bars, said clamping bars comprising a first bar rigidly secured at one end to the top end portion of said main body member and said first bar having a free end portion projecting at right angles from said body member and a second bar with a semicircular end portion pivotally secured to the top end of said main body member and having a free end projecting outwardly therefrom, said second bar arranged adjacent said first bar for selectivemovement between a normally closed position relative to said first bar and an open position, said adjustable mounting means comprising a slide with an upper and lower end and a second pair of clamping bars assembled therewith, said second pair of clamping bars comprising a third bar secured at one end to said adjustable mounting means and having a free end projecting at right angles to said slide and a fourth bar having a semi-circular end and a free end, said semi-circular end of said fourth bar pivotally supported to the upper end portion of said slide below and adjacent said third bar for movement between a normal closed position in side by side relationship with said third bar for clamping the said opposite pair of ends of said pair of elastic and inelastic strips arranged therebetween when in use and releasable clamping means arranged with the free ends of each pair of clamping bars for clamping each pair of bars together when in use.

2. In a device of the class described, a body member having a top end and a bottom end, a first pair of bars vertically arranged and secured at one end thereof to said body member at the top-end thereof and their opposite ends forming free ends projecting outwardly therefrom, a slide movably mounted intermediate the top and bottom ends of said body member, said first pair of bars projecting at right angles to said body member, a second pair of bars vertically arranged and secured at one end thereof to said slide and their opposite ends forming free ends, said free ends projecting at right angles to said slide and in a plane common with said first pair of bars, the lower bar of said first pair of bars rigidly secured to said body member, the upper bar of said first pair of bars pivotally secured at one end thereof to said body member, the upper bar of said second pair of bars rigidly secured to said slide, the lower bar of said second pair of bars pivotally secured at one end thereof to said slide, whereby spaced opposite pairs of end portions of said elastic and inelastic strips of fabric may be inserted between each pair of bars, arcuate spring clips yieldably secured to the free ends of each pair of bars when in substantially closed position so as to clamp said fabric therebetween, the longitudinal movement of said slide on said body member in a direction away from said first pair of bars effective to prestretch the elastic strip and tension the inelastic strip, and a thumb screw being assembled with said slide for releasably securing said slide in longitudinal spaced apart relationship with the top end of the body member to which said first pair of bars is attached.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 748,131 Winterbotham Dec. 29, 1903 1,297,016 Schoenl Mar. 11, 1919 1,987,159 Rasmussen Jan. 8, 1935 2,261,005 Thompson et al. Oct. 28, 1941 2,767,893 Latson Oct. 23, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 450,494 France Mar. 26, 1913 440,400 Germany Feb. 4, 1927 

